‘Heroes’ 4.7: Yatta, baby! The magic’s back!

“Cold Snap,” the seventh chapter in our Heroic little tale of imprisoning super-powered people for the not-so-greater good, not only rocked but really rocked. We’re talking the best “Heroes” episode of the season by far, what with a big reveal (which we knew all along but still…), a big death (which we thought we didn’t see coming) and a big return to power (which we love coming from such a small source).

All that plus Swoosie Kurtz without an eye patch. Yatta!

Hit that jump for icy spoilers and more praise for this return to season 1 form.

Let’s get right to what worked in this ep, which I’m happy to say is plenty.

With Nathan having flown out of the picture (yay) we now have evil Danko and morally gray Noah running the show at Building 26. Noah’s still on Angela Petrelli’s side to do what’s right by the captured powered folk (at least we think/hope) while Danko’s still pretty much all about bag ’em, tag ’em and preferably kill ’em.

Noah needs to earn Danko’s trust in light of the latter discovering Nate’s power to fly, especially since Danko now has a tubby puppet master in custody that really just fell into his lap. So Noah says they should let ice queen Tracy escape so she can lead them right to the “mystery” hacker named Rebel.

Of course Rebel is really Micah, the kid with a deeper voice these days who still talks to machines. And of course he tries to help Tracy because her bio made her sound like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and, oh yeah, she looks just like Micah’s mom.

I’m glad the show didn’t string us along too much with this obvious character. And I really like how Tracy sacrificed herself in that big freeze-off (or did she? wink-wink) so Micah could escape Danko’s clutches.

When Tracy makes her getaway earlier in the ep, Matt and Mohinder escape with Daphne as well, only they get Daphne to a hospital and Matt works his mental mojo to convince the staff she just had an accident and BTW she’s Gwen Stefani.

Too bad a future with Matt is also only a fantasy. Matt makes Daphne think she’s run to Paris, only to fly there ala Nathan and give Daphne a fond, mental farewell flight in the skies ala Superman with Lois Lane in “Superman Returns,” only with weaker special effects but more heart.

You know, this show needed a significant death to ratchet up its lost immediacy and Daphne’s does just that. We finally get some real poignancy in a “Heroes” ep. Will wonders never cease?

How about this wonder: Hiro gets his powers back. Sort of.

While in Los Angeles, Hiro and Ando discover baby Matt Parkman is really Matt’s son. Make that Matt’s powered son. Make that Matt’s powered son who gives power like a “Baby Genesis Device.” (And yes, the mere mention of that conjures images of Christopher Lloyd as that nutso Klingon in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.”)

Baby Matt switches on Hiro’s time-freezing power just in the nick as agents swarm in to grab them, saving their bacon but only just. See, Hiro still can’t teleport, so he has to make do with baby in a baby harness carrier and Ando in a wheelbarrow. Great stuff.

Oh, and for bonus fun, Momma Petrelli meets with her old pal Millie, played by Swoosie Kurtz of the late “Pushing Daisies” *sigh* and gets rescued from evil agents thanks to her fast-flying, power-scamming son Peter.

So let’s recap all the good: No Nathan, very little Mohinder and Peter, classic Hiro/Ando antics, heart-breaking stuff with Matt and Daphne, a cool (sorry) sacrifice by Tracy for Rebel aka we knew all along it was Micah and some sweet Swoosie.

The only real bad: That creepy shaving scene with Danko. I half-expected a Gillette logo to pop up with an altered slogan like “The best a Gollum-looking guy sure to meet a vile end at or near the close of the season can get.” Or maybe an appearance by Trent Reznor.

In any case, “Cold Snap” brought back that season 1 magic. So I do believe a hearty “yatta!” is in order and most appropriate.

To be continued… please, please, please with more of this kind of awesome.